"They cannot have him. He is a fugitive, like ourselves, and I don't believe God would permit us to escape if we should wickedly abandon him." "Nor I; we won't do that. We will all be taken together," said Lily, whose sympathy for the hunted runaway seemed, for the moment, to give her new courage. "Do you suppose they know any thing about us?" asked she. "Perhaps they do. I suppose Colonel Raybone has sent hunters in every direction for us, and has probably offered a reward." "Then we shall certainly be taken," answered Lily, with a shudder. "We will not be taken, Lily, whoever pursues us." "Hallo! In the boat there!" shouted a man of the pursuing party. The slave-hunters were now within less than a quarter of a mile of the Isabel, for they had been gaining upon her by a vigorous use of their oars. The boat which contained them was now exactly astern of the schooner. "Hallo!" replied Dan, who, knowing that the men could not talk and row to the best advantage, was quite willing to converse with them. "What boat's that?" shouted the spokesman of the slave-hunters. "Captain Barrett's," replied Dan, whose virtue was not sufficiently developed to induce him to tell the truth in his present perilous situation. "Where from?" "Down below Brashear," answered Dan, who had previously made up his mind what to say if any conversation with the pursuers should become necessary. "What ye doin up here?" "Came up with a party." "Seen ary runaway nigger in the water?" "No," shouted Dan, promptly. The question filled him with hope, for it assured him the slave-hunters had not been near enough even to hear the report of the fowling-pieces when he fired them; or, at least, not near enough to discover who had fired them. "Didn't ye see him?" asked the pursuers again. "No." "Gossifus! Wha--wha--wha--what's de matter?" demanded Cyd, rushing up from the cabin with Quin, both of them having been awakened from their slumbers by the voice of the skipper. "Silence, Cyd!" said Dan, in a low, decided tone. "Hush, Cyd!" added Lily, in a whisper. "Don't speak a word." "Wha--wha--wha----" "Hush, Cyd!" repeated Lily, who seemed, in the moment of danger, to be endowed with a self-possession at variance with her former timidity. "Where you bound now?" called the slave-hunter. "Home," replied Dan. They asked no further questions for a time, and Dan saw, with a thrill of satisfaction, that they were lying upon their oars. He hoped that his answers had convinced them the runaway was not on board; but in this he was disappointed. He heard the men in the boat talking together, though he could not make out what they said. When the conference was ended, they renewed their efforts to overtake the Isabel. "Hallo, the schooner!" shouted the spokesman again. "Hallo, the boat," replied Dan. "Heave to, and let us see you a minute." "What for?" "Want to talk with you." "Can't stop." "Guess ye kin. Heven't ye seen nary nigger?" "No." "Well, stop--won't ye?"